The present invention relates to mechanized sweeper vehicles that utilize a primary broom to sweep debris from pavements and roadways and, more particularly, to method and apparatus for removing a conveyor assembly from a sweeper vehicle and installing a replacement conveyor assembly.
Mechanical broom sweepers are designed to pick-up debris not normally accepted by conventional regenerative or vacuum-type sweepers; this debris typically including asphalt nodules of varying size consequent to asphalt milling operations, rocks, stones, broken concrete debris, construction debris, broken bricks and masonry, and the like.
FIG. 1 presents, in side view, a model M5000/M6000 mechanized broom sweeper 10 manufactured by Schwarze Industries, Inc. of Huntsville Ala. and shows a rotatable broom 12 mounted at the aft end of the vehicle. The broom 12 is rotated against the road surface to brush debris in the forward direction onto a mechanical conveyor 14. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the conveyor 14 typically includes a set of parallel flights 14-1 that are connected by a link chain 14-2 to push the debris along an inclined floor pan 14-3 under control of a hydraulic motor 14-4 to carry the debris upwardly for deposit through an entry opening of a debris collection bin or hopper 16. A representative vehicle of this type is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,721,374 issued May 25, 2010, entitled “Debris/Load Leveling System,” in common assignment herewith, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Typically, conveyors 14 are subject to harsh operating conditions since the debris is both abrasive and often capable of bending and deforming the flights 14-1. As represented in FIG. 4, when a conveyor 14 must be changed, it is necessary to disassemble most the structures aft of the rear axle, including sheet metal housings and their supports, and many brackets, trailing arms, pivots, and the like on both sides of the conveyor 14 to remove the rotary brush 12 and related control structures in order to gain access to and remove the conveyor 14. Often, a broom sweeper vehicle can be ‘down’ for several days in order to remove and replace a conveyor 14.